Monthly Archives - February 2016

Champion Holly Holm (10-0) takes on Miesha Tate (17-5) in the co-main event at UFC 196 on Saturday, March 5. The fight takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. This will be an amazing bout leading to the McGregor Vs. Diaz fight.

Holm shocked the world when she knocked out Ronda Rousey at 4:06 of the Second Round at UFC 193. Holm won Performance of the Night for her knockout of Rousey. Tate has won her last 4 fights. The last time she lost was in 2013 when Rousey beat her via submission at 4:02 of Round 3 at UFC 168.

Bet On Holly Holm Because…

Holm is a spectacular striker. Everybody knew what a great boxer she was before facing Rousey in one of the biggest upsets in UFC History. What nobody realized was what a great kick boxer she was. Holm knocked Rousey down with a vicious knee, not with a boxing left hook or straight cross. What’s really amazing about Holm’s performance against Rousey is that all 38 of the strikes that she landed on Ronda were considered significant strikes. That’s incredible.

Bet On Miesha Tate Because…

Tate figures to try and get the fight to the ground as soon as possible instead of taking shots from Holm. Only 17% of Tate’s wins have come via knockout. 35% of her wins have come via submission while 47% of her wins have come via decision. Tate has to utilize her ground game if she has any hope of beating the expertly skilled Holm in this match on Saturday night.

Expert Pick

It’s tough to fight Holly Holm because she has the ability to defend against takedowns. In fact, Holm’s has defended takedown attempts 100% of the time. Tate is only good on takedowns 35.71% of the time.

Tate may try to box with Holm. That would be a disaster. Holm has a 4 inch reach advantage over Tate. Not only that, but Holm is perfect at setting her body before either striking with her fists or her feet. Any way you cut it, Miesha Tate should be in some trouble in this fight on March 5. Holly Holm’s skills are too broad for Tate to handle. I like Holm to knockout Tate in Round 2.

Holly Holm Round 2 KO.

Conor McGregor (19-2) takes on Nate Diaz (19-10) in the main event at UFC 196 on Saturday, March 5. The fight takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Main Card starts at 10:00 pm ET.

Champion McGregor has won his 7 fights at UFC. He’s garnered performance of the night honors in his last 5 fights. Nate Diaz has lost, won, lost and won his last 4 fights. Diaz goes into this battle after a 3 Round Decision over Michael Johnson at UFC Fight Night on Dec. 19, 2015. Diaz vs Johnson won Fight of the Night honors on Dec. 19.

Bet On Conor McGregor Because…

The most popular fighter at UFC has been unstoppable since pretty much announcing to the world that he was unstoppable. McGregor’s last fight was supposed to be tough. Facing future hall of famer Jose Aldo, The Notorious was supposed to be tested. Instead of being tested, McGregor took 5 strikes to knock out Aldo at 4:46 of Round 1. It was one of the most amazing knockouts in MMA history. If McGregor goes into the Octagon in shape, and there’s no reason to believe he won’t, he’s going to be tough to lay a hand on, much less beat.

Bet On Nate Diaz Because…

Diaz won’t make the mistake that Aldo made. Aldo decided to strike with the best striker at UFC. That’s a no win situation. McGregor can not only strike with his legs and arms, but he also has a strong chin. Diaz has excellent Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu skills. If he’s smart, he’ll keep his distance and wait for McGregor to come in before going trying to get the fight to the ground. The longer Diaz can last, the better his chances that the awesome McGregor will make a mistake instead of he making one.

Expert Pick

Diaz has a huge problem in this fight. Although he’s got some of the best BJJ skills at UFC, he’s not very good at taking down his opponents. Diaz’s takedown accuracy is only 30.77%. That’s not going to cut it versus McGregor who prevents take downs 83.33% of the time.

Diaz also has another issue. McGregor was supposed to beat Rafael dos Anjos in this match. dos Anjos had to pull out due to a broken foot. Who knows if Diaz is even ready for this fight. Jump on McGregor now because there’s no way that The Notorious doesn’t become at least a -550 favorite to destroy Nate Diaz on March 5.

Conor McGregor Round 1 KO.

Oklahoma City and Golden State put on a clinic this past Saturday. Golden State’s best player, Steph Curry, showed why he may end up as the greatest NBA Player of all time. OKC and GS throw down again this Thursday night in a game that made my best bets of the week article.

I also like the Wednesday matchup between Detroit and San Antonio. The final game that I think can produce a winner has Houston battling Chicago on the road in Saturday night’s marquee matchup.

A Closer Look At My NBA Free Picks Feb 29th – March 6th

Detroit at San AntonioWhen: Wednesday, March 2 at 8:00 pm ETTV: ESPN

San Antonio is 50 and 9 straight up to start the week. Any other year and we’d already have anointed the Spurs as NBA Champions. The problem is that Golden State has made the rest of the NBA look like the D-League.

As far as the sports book is concerned, the Spurs are better than Golden State when it comes to game to game ATS backing. San Antonio is a stellar 19 and 9 ATS at home. The Spurs beat Detroit 109 to 99 the last time that they played against them. Detroit’s 13 and 18 ATS record to start the week won’t give their backers any confidence. San Antonio should roll in this matchup unless Pop decides to rest Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard.

Pick: San Antonio

Oklahoma City at Golden StateWhen: Thursday, March 3 at 10:30 pm ETTV: TNT

Oklahoma City had Golden State on the ropes. A bad play by former MVP Kevin Durant led to Golden State tying the game in regulation. In overtime, it was the Steph Curry show after Durant fouled out.

OKC is a good team, but they don’t have Steph Curry. No other team in the NBA has Steph Curry. He’s impossible to guard. He’s so good that he’s already broken his own record for three-pointers in a season with 24 games to go as of Feb. 28. That’s how good of a player this guy is. OKC ended up pushing in the 121 to 118 loss this past Saturday night because the Thunder went from being a -2 point favorite in the morning to being a +3 point dog before tip-off.

It’s just hard to see Golden State dropping this game against the team that’s turning out to be their top rival in the Western Conference. The Warriors should win.

Pick: Golden State

Houston at ChicagoWhen: Saturday, March 5 at 8:30 pm ETTV: ABC

So, now it comes out that James Harden has a lot more pull in the Rockets Organization than many believed he had? What? How can you let Harden decide to fire a coach like Kevin McHale? If the rumors are true, that was all Harden’s influence. There’s also been a report that Harden pushed management to trade Dwight Howard.

Houston is 29 and 30 straight up to start the week. They are 26 and 33 ATS overall to start the week. They have lost 4 out of their last 6 straight up as of Feb. 28. Chicago hasn’t been playing all that well, but they should have no trouble beating Houston on Saturday because Houston is a mess of a team both on and off the court.